Size/length?
 

I never did get any replies to my thread asking some questions about setting up a saltwater tank, so started a new thread specifically asking a couple of questions I have.

Want to know the best size tank for fish only, not heavily stocked.

- standard 55 gallon, or
- 65 gallon (36x18x24) or
- 60 gallon (48x16x18)?

And a good HOB skimmer (easiest to maintain and not a lot of money)? No room for a sump.

I'd love some answers or direction to find the answers. Thanks.

It really depends on the type of finish you want to keep, tangs will need a larger tank than a 65, while small fish will be fine, mixed butterflies will also need a larger tank otherwise they will fight, mixed dwarf angels will be fine in a 65.

As for a skimmer the only HOB I recommend is a Deltec for light bio load an MCE 300.

A nice size fish only tank is a 75 Gallon (48x20x18). The lenght is nice for a fish only, I would try to get a 48" long tank.
A good hing on skimmer is tunze 9002 would work quite well, and great brand name.

tunze are great skimmers IMO--i use only tunze in my tanks. but i think the 9002 may be too small for a fish only bio load in a 55 or 65g. i would go to the 9005. well worth the $

Fish I'm thinking of are a coral beauty, firefish, a orchid dottyback or black cap basslet, maybe a bartlett anthias, maybe a valentini puffer (but may not go with the others listed above?) and a goby or blenny.

By your fish list you should be alright with any of those listed tanks. I always try to get the longest tank possible as it lets the fish swim around further, so for viewing looks good. In the end it is going to come down to space and what you like for viewing.

A trick from my freshwater days was to go with a deep tank and stock with fish that like diferent levels of water,this way you get a fish in every area of your tank and it fills it out better. Im sure it must also apply to saltwater

if you have a choice of tank lengths I would opt for the 4ft instead of 3ft.
While your fish list is considerably small atleast if you have the choice to get larger fish in the future without setting up another tank.

I see that you don't want a sump which is fine however you could easily incorporate a sump into your stand which then you could go with a fairly decent skimmer like the euro reef or an asm. Otherwise you spend the money on a better skimmer like a tunze or if you skimp on one like a coralife you will most likely end up with saltwater on your floor as the water in your display fluctuates up and down.

I wish my small house could accomadate larger tanks like a 6ft however 4ft is fine for me now.

Well, I set up the 55 gallon, sand and 2 pieces of live rock so far. And was still reading about skimmers and I just got hit .... the 55 gallon probably has room for a sump underneath? The cabinet measurements are 22" long by 26" high by 22" wide. How much more money is it to run a sump and have a skimmer in there compared to having a HOB skimmer? The Deltec HOB skimmer looks good ... ?

Sure you can put a sump under it! Call IPZ and they can get a tank made to your measurements quite reasonably.
A sump really opens up your options with skimmers. I personally like the Tunze ones.. they dont pull the most gunk, but they just keep churning along and dont need any fiddling with.

Creatures has some decent rock pretty cheap for sale at the moment.. most
of it is from the big display they just took down.

cheers.. and I knew you couldnt stand it much longer~:mrgreen: